Spritz, Prega: Bice Bicycles 27.5″ MTB

Dario Colombo has been building frames commercially for a number of years now. He’s based in Verderio, which is in-between Como and Monza, but closest to Bergamo. This 27.5″ off-road racer was a design challenge, but one with a successful outcome.

Italian culture is rich and full of bravado, and it always comes out in the bikes that are produced in that country. Bice Bicycles are unique in that most tubes and components are sourced locally.

Even the colors for the paint were inspired by a Spritz Veneziano, a wine-based cocktail commonly served as an aperitif in Northeast Italy. Aperol could do worse than look to this Bice for a promotional vehicle.

Dario built this XC racer for Claudio, a good friend he met while racing the Italian single speed champs in 2012, and then during the SCIS — Single Cross Italian Series. Dario had built him a fat bike and then came back with a more complicated request.

Claudio wanted a bike that could fit plus tires and an RS1 Brain fork. Then a closer chain line was asked for, and then finally a dropper seat post with an internally-routed controller. The goalposts and the geometry kept evolving.

Thanks to the ‘rules’ governing all mountain/enduro bikes and forks, the ‘ideal’ head tube steerer angle end up at around 68.5°, so Dario had to account for that. The bottom bracket height is also quite high, which moves the final drawing around considerably.

Dario built the frame using a Columbus 31.6 externally butted seat tube, a bent Zona down tube and a Dedacciai HT 29er Evo top tube. The rear triangle uses a Paragon Machine Works yoke and Columbus Zona seat and chain stays.

Somehow it all came together — with typical Italian exuberance — topped with a wooden handlebar made by Animus, makers of handcrafted championship-level table tennis rackets. Hopefully, we’ll see this bike in the mud soon.